Whiter shades of pale

This is my blonde ambition right here:

From Elinkan, a Swedish blogger (well…clearly), who embraces her natural pallor. I would like to get my hair this pale and squeaky clean. Where has this urge to be entirely white all over come from? Looking back at photos of myself with brown hair feels really weird now.

I am getting myself used to have tiny roots because I can’t afford to have them redone every three weeks as I would like. I realise that the above ghostly goodness is probably not possible but I like looking. The blog, which is in Swedish but worth looking at for the pictures (or if you read Swedish I suppose) shows that it is all about the Swedish colours blue and yellow and not red for blondes.

S

Hello I am from Scandinavia

I’ve had two accusations of looking Swedish so far since dying my hair. This is a SLUR on my heritage. I have no personal beef with the Swedes but I think you’ll find I look Finnish. It’s the massive round head that gives it away and the lack of cheekbones like ice picks. Finland has its fair share of fox-faced willowy types but the rest of us have what my friend Emilia calls “round, friendly features”.

Actually, I love Swedish fashion (Acne t-shirts  need to beware of me when I get paid next month) but today I am approximating the effect of being in Stockholm with the help of Marimekko and See by Chloe:

p.s. Can you tell I have just worked out how to take a half-decent photo with my new camera? Iwill try not to post too many zillions.

S

Going blonde

Well, I’m now booked in to make the big leap into the colour unknown. By the end of next Tuesday I will, hairdresser permitting, have yellow hair.

I’ve had a few different hair colours in my life – starting off as a cool blonde baby, going brunette as I got older, dying my poor hair red in most of its incarnations from flame to ginger, moving on to jet black hair with a heavy fringe and most recently experimenting with going lighter in gentle increments.

Blonde seems like a natural counterpart to the navy, black and grey I tend to wear a lot now but I understand that with lighter hair you need to wear more makeup and when you factor in my pale skin, there are probably some colours in clothing that are better or worse.

I will report back with pictures when the deed is done and may need some help working out what on earth to wear! My observations on the street lead me to think that purple would be a bad choice.

S

Summer hair

I was comparing hair lengths with my friends on Saturday (this being the sort of thing girls do) and mine was neither trendily short nor beach-babe-ishly long. It was just in the middle. How can I make my hair more interesting? I have been harbouring thoughts of going blonder for some time and I know that I need to get it done professionally to get the right effect. I don’t want to be just any blonde, it needs to be just the right mix of LA yellow and Scandinavian white. I’ve found a picture of pretty much the most perfect blonde hair:

Soft, golden, not dried-out looking. Okay so the maintenance would be a pain but it only has to be for the summer and then maybe I could go golden-brown again in the autumn. Maybe when I get paid next month…

S

Blondeness

Every now and then I see a girl with beautiful blonde hair and think “oh, I wish I was blonde”. As with most things, I am very particular about blonde hair and I generally think it’s a shame when you see three women with identical highlights standing next to each other. Much as I appreciate the charms of Lauren et al of The Hills, I wouldn’t want to dye my hair a medium, yellow blonde. I am talking a really pale, flat-toned ash-blonde like the one I saw yesterday on a girl in a black-and-yellow tartan shirt. It wasn’t crispy-looking but must have been dyed as it it was almost silvery.

It’s a big step. I don’t know if I’ll ever do it or whether I would really enjoy being fair when it comes with so many connotations and so much upkeep. For now I will just look at these Scandinavian blondes and ponder my next hair move.

S